Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Whatever it is called Sunday, and Cyber Monday are now part of history for 2015.

My family managed to mostly stick to our spending plan for Black Friday. Other than an unplanned pair of softshell pants we stayed on track and returned from Black Friday in Spokane with exactly what we wanted and needed.

Did you stick to your spending plan? Did you get derailed and overspend?

If you stuck to your spending plan – great! – now remember to stick to your spending plan for the approaching holidays. It can be super easy to stick to your plan for Black Friday, then have an overspending explosion as you get ready for Christmas.

If you ended up overspending this Black Friday – don’t let it have a huge impact on you – don’t let feelings of guilt (why did I buy so much) or panic (how am I going to pay for all of this stuff) take over. You still have time to get on track and follow a Spending Plan for Christmas and the New Year.

The key to building a solid money foundation is to build on your successes and learn from your mistakes (not beat yourself up about them).

Whichever of the above categories you fall into it is time to move past Black Friday and look towards Christmas and New Years, and how you can control your spending during one of the most expensive times of the year.

Four Steps for using Positive Emotions to Control Your Spending this Christmas